Steelers Injury Updates: Two Key Starters Miss Practice

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers are still dealing with several injury issues on the defense, and George Pickens and Minkah Fitzpatrick headline the daily injuries. Both missed practice on Wednesday to start the week’s prep against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Fitzpatrick, along with Montravius Adams, were players who had missed multiple weeks and were hoping to come back. Adams returned to practice on Wednesday for the first time since his ankle injury against the Tennessee Titans on Nov. 2nd.

“Minkah is working hard to be component of this week’s plan, as is Mont Adams,” head coach Mike Tomlin said on Tuesday. “In both cases, we’ll be thoughtful about their participation and levels of participation. When we get later in the week, we’ll let the amount of that participation and the quality of it potentially be our guide in terms of their availability.”

Fitzpatrick has been out since suffering his injury midway through the Steelers’ Week 9 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. He has missed three straight games. Damontae Kazee moved from strong safety to free safety to replace him, with Keanu Neal stepping up from a part-time role to a full-time role to replace Kazee in the first two games of Fitzpatrick’s absence.

But Neal was injured late in the Week 10 win over Green Bay, and was placed on the injured reserve list Saturday with a rib injury. He will miss at least the next three games.

Trenton Thompson was the third man up at strong safety, making his first career start against the Cleveland Browns. Elijah Riley played as the Dime defensive back, but he suffered a high ankle sprain against the Browns and was placed on IR this week. He will miss at least the next four games.

Outside of the safety position, Pickens’ injury came as a surprise. If he could not play, Allen Robinson II and Calvin Austin III would take on a larger role.

James Pierre (shoulder) and Nick Herbig (hamstring) popped up with new injuries but were limited. Patrick Peterson, Levi Wallace, Isaac Seumalo, and Cam Heyward were all given the day off for rest days.

STEELERS INJURY REPORT